Sable Odry, NEC Advocacy Co-Director
Offshore Wind Draft PEIS:
On February 12th, the comment period closed for the California Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) published by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in order to identify “mitigation measures to lessen the environmental impacts of commercial-scale offshore wind energy development in the five lease areas offshore Northern and Central California on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).” This is one step in the process for developing regulationing on a state level, for implementing systems that could allow for commercial-scale offshore wind energy development off the California coast.
In the process of reviewing the Draft PEIS, the NEC consulted with other environmental organizations, topic experts and community members, in order to get a broader scope of the potential impacts of the proposed offshore wind projects. With the critical state of our climate we believe that any proposed developments, particularly on this grand of scale, must undergo rigorous environmental review and be considered through a critical lens. We hope that BOEM will adopt regulations to address the multitude of concerns being expressed by numerous environmental groups, tribal governments, and community members.
Below are some of the highlights from our discussions:
As recommended by Humboldt Waterkeeper:
- Impacts from port development are part of the overall project and must be thoroughly addressed, as required by the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.
- Standardize scientific monitoring and require the data to be made publicly available and accessible.
- A more thorough analysis of port-related air, noise, and light pollution impacts on local residents is needed, along with stronger mitigation measures to reduce those impacts. For example, MM-10 should require (not encourage) lessees to use zero-emissions technologies where feasible.
- Increased vessel traffic poses a threat to Humboldt Bay’s ecosystem and its aquaculture
industry from introduction of diseases and invasive marine invertebrates. These impacts should be thoroughly analyzed and mitigation measures adopted.
- BOEM should analyze a broader range of alternatives, such as a range of scales,turbine sizes, and floating platform technologies that could reduce impacts on Humboldt Bay and the marine environment.
- We support Mitigation Measure-4, the vessel speed limit of 10 knots to limit collisions with marine mammals.
After consultation with the California Lichen Society’s Conservation Committee, we believe that lichen monitoring protocols and mitigation measures need to be developed to minimize the effects of pollution on lichens. In particular, these protocols need to monitor the effects of air pollution from ship traffic during installation of the wind turbines. There are two special status lichen species known to occur within the potential project areas:
- Humboldt Bay: Sulcaria spiralifera (state rank = S2, California Rare Plant Rank = 1B.2)
- Morro Bay: Sulcaria isidiifera (state rank = S1, California Rare Plant Rank = 1B.1), and Sulcaria spiralifera
Additionally the PEIS should include the following:
- BOEM needs to adopt clear monitoring and mitigation measures for impacts to marine mammals, including from noise and sonar disturbances due to construction and maintenance activities, increased vessel traffic, and power transmission.
- Monitoring and mitigation measures need to be developed for effects on upwelling cycles within marine and associated environments.
- All monitoring and mitigation efforts need to include upstream effects within associated watersheds to the proposed developments.
- All proposed port developments need to integrate transportation demand management and safe bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
- All proposed developments need to assess all potential GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emission increases due to possible traffic increases.
- BOEM should consider how the impacts of digging transmission line trenches compares to deep sea mining impacts and minimize or prohibit as much trenching as feasible.
Birdathon:
Have you found your birdathon team yet? What about pledged donations to your favorite team? Join us in May to help raise funds for the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC) and the Redwood Region Audubon Society (RRAS)! Similar to a walk-a-thon, where you raise money from sponsors for each mile walked, a birdathon is a way of raising donations by the amount of bird species that are identified within a 24-hour timeframe.
So find your teams and start getting your pledges for this year’s birdathon! Anyone can participate, from expert birders to beginners. Visit www.yournec.org/birdathon to find out how you can donate, register a team, or pledge donations to a team during Birdathon 2025!
Plankton Monitering Network
Join us online on March 21 from 4-6PM, to learn about the Plankton Monitoring Network (PMN), how to ID some commonly seen plankton, and check out some plankton freshly sampled from Wigi (Humboldt) Bay with us! Tune in via zoom at https://tinyurl.com/37ud2twx